Railway-car heater



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet L A. R. THOMPSON.

RAILWAY GAR HEATER.

No. 385.534. Patented July 3, 1888.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

A. THOMPSON. RAILWAY GAR HEATER. No. 385,534. Patented July 3, 1888.

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NITED STATES PATENT Orricn.

' ALBERT RHODES THOMPSON, OF STONE CHURCH, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAELWAY-CAR HEATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 385,534, dated July 3,1888.

Application filed July 7, 1887. Serial No. 243,682.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT Rnonns THOMP- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Stone Church, in the county of Northampton and StateofPennsylvani-a, haveinventeda new and useful Improvement in Railway-CarHeaters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in railway-car heaters; and itconsists in the pe culiar construction and combination of devices thatwill be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation, partly insection, of a portion of a locomotive provided with my improvedairheating device. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same,taken on the line y y of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a similar view taken on theline a: m of Fig. 1. Fig. t is a perspective View of a portion of theinterior of a railway-car provided with myimproved heat-radiating appliances. Fig. 5 is a detached perspective view of one of theheat-conducting pipes. Figs. 6 and 7 are modified forms of myinvent-ion.

A represents the boiler of the locomotive of the usual construction, andB represents the firebox of the same. In the spaces formed between theopposing side walls of the tire box and the boiler-shell areheatingchambers 0, each of which is provided at its front end with avertical channel, D,which extends from the lower side of the same to theupper side thereof, and there communicates with a series ofhorizontaltortuous channels, E,which communicate with each other at opposite ends,as shown at Fig. 1.

In the lower front corner of each heatingchamber is an inlet-opening, F,which is covered on its inside 'by an inward opening valve, G.

H represents an induction funnel which communicates with the opening F,and is thereby adapted to supply air to the lower end of the verticalchannel D. The rear lower corner of each chamber 0 is provided with anoutletopening, K.

I represents an air-pump whichis arranged in front of each chamber B.The said airrear ends withpipes L, which extend from (No model.)

their cylinders to the lower front sides of the chambers B andcommunicate with the lines of channels I) thereof. In advance of eachair-pump I is a guideway, M, for the cross head N, with which eachpiston-rod of the airpump is provided.

0 represents one of the axles of thelocomotive-trucir, which is providednear its center with eccentric P,that extends in diametrically oppositedirections.

R represents pitmen which connect the cocentric to the crossheads N.

From the foregoing description it will he understood that when thelocomotive is in motion the air-pumps will be operated and caused toforce air through the channels of the hcating-chamber B, from whence theheated air will be supplied to the cars, as will be hereinafter fullydescribed. In order to cause air to be forced through the channels oftheheatcd chambers, and thus heated and supplied to the cars when thetrain is standing still, I provide additional airpnmps S, which areoperated by small steam-engines T.

I do not desire to limit myself to the exact arrangement of theheating-chamber shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, as in some instances it maybe desirable to'locate the heating chambers above the fire-box, as shownin Fig. 9, or in the water-space of the boiler, as shown in Fig. 10.

In opposite sides of each car U of the train is located ahotair-radiating chamber, V, the same extending lengthwise in the carsfor a suitable distance, and being constructed of sheet or plate metal.The inner sides of the radiating-chamber V are covered by screens, ofwire-netting NV or other suitable materials, in order to prevent thepassengers from coming in contact with the heated surfaces of theradiators and being burned.

X represents horizontal radiating arms or chambers, which are arrangedunder the seats of the car and communicate at one end with theradiating-chambers V.

Yrepresents pipes, (shown in Fig. 5,) which are connected to theopenings K of the airheating chambers G and extend from the locomotiverearward. beneath the tender and through the baggage and express cars(not shown) to the passenger-ears. The said pipes Y are of doublethickness and are formed each byplacing a pipe, Y, into a pipe, Y ofsome- What greater diameter.

Each radiating chamber V is provided at opposite ends with downwardlyextending pipes Z, which pass through the bottoms of the ears and havetheir lower ends bent outward and extended horizontally to the ends ofthe ears. The extremities of the said pipes Z are provided with suitablecoupling-heads (not shown) to enable the pipes to connect theradiating-chambers together between the cars and to connect theradiatingchamber in the foremost car to the heating-chambers in thelocomotive. By this means the hot air from the locomotive may be carriedthroughout the entire train and supplied to the radiatingchambers V inthe car.

The radiating chambers V are provided with registers or valves K, bymeans of which the hot air may be admitted directly to the interior ofthe cars when necessary in order to warm the same in a short time. Fromeach end of the chambers V extend vertical pipes L, which pass throughthe roofs of the cars and are provided at their upper ends with swiveleduction-cones M. Valves or dampers N are arranged in the pipes L, andsimilar valves, 0, are arranged at the inner ends of thepipes Z, therebyenabling the hot air to be cutoff in any car, and also controlling theescape of the heated air from the radiatingchambers.

The operation of my invention is as follows: Vhcn the train is inmotion,air is drawn into the vertical lines of channels I) of theheating-chambers B through the funnels H, and is also forced into theheating-chambers by the air-pump, as previously described. As the airpasses backward and forward through the tortuous fines or channels ofthe chambers C, it becomes very thoroughly heated and is forced rearwardthrough the coupling-pipes into the radiators in the cars. The valves Nin the intermediate cars are closed to prevent the escape of the heatedair, the valves 0 are open to permit the hot air to circulate throughall the radiators in the train, and the radiators in the rear car havetheir forward valves, N and 0, closed and their rearward valve open thuspermitting the hot air to escape only from the rear ends of theradiators in the last car of the train. Owing to the motion of thetrain, partial vacuums are formed in the eduction funnels or cones M,thereby accelerating the escape of the hot air and consequentlyassisting the same to circulate throughout the series of radiators inthe train.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a car-heater, thecombination,with the heating-chambers and the conveying pipes leadingtherefrom, of the radiators connected to the said conveying'pipes, thepipes Z, provided with the valves 0, and the vertical pipes L, havingvalves N, and cones or funnels M, as set forth.

2. In heating apparatus for railway-cars, the radiators V, arranged inthe sides of the ears and having communicating horizontal arms X,extending under the seats, substantially as described.

8. In heating apparatus for railway-cars,the heating-chambers O,arranged in the locomotive-furnace and having the tortuous commitnieating flues or channels D E, and means to supply the same with air,in combination with the radiators arranged in the sides of the cars,coupled together in series and connected to and communicating with theheating chambers, substantially as described.

In testimony thatI claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT RHODES THOMPSON.

WVitnesses:

S. B. HOFFMEIER, JOHN B. O'rro.

